My big boy...

This week we started to potty train Gavin.  I was skeptical and nervous for a couple of reasons: diapers, although disgusting, are really convenient, and it would mean my big boy is growing up.  Well, we brought his potty downstairs, and he almost immediately began to use it!  He hasn't had one dirty diaper in almost a week!  Strangely enough, wet diapers seem to be more of a challenge.  Maybe we need to up the anty on wet diapers.  He has even been going to the bathroom in public although I feel like I have to issue a public apology everywhere we "pee" because the boy does not know how to aim...yet.  The other night while we were at dinner, Gary took him to the bathroom.  When he got back to the table, he told the waitress who applauded and congratulated him.  The couple behind us clapped, too.  Then, last night we went to dinner and Gavin told me he had to make a "ba loop" (the sound poop makes when it hits the water-he came up with that all by himself).  So, we went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet.  After about 15 minutes, he was finished!  What a big boy!  Apparently all the time in the bathroom created a bit of a fuss outside the bathroom by someone waiting to use the toilet.  C'mon!  As we were leaving, a random stranger said "hi" to him.  Gavin proceeded to tell said stranger that he did "ba loop" on the potty.  Confused, the man looked to Gary for a translation.  Gary quickly told the stranger Gavin pooped on the potty.  The stranger then pointed out that Gavin had some water on his shirt to which Gary replied, "That ain't water."  Geez.  Anyway, I'm so proud of my big boy.

We also got him a big boy bed.  We decided to buy him a twin race car bed.  We haven't set in up yet because we are doing some stuff to his room (painting, etc).  He got some Lightning McQueen sheets, and I'm contemplating Curious George sheets for Christmas.  I hope he loves his new bed.  I hope he will sleep in his new bed!!  I'm sure this transition will be just as easy as all the other ones for my little man.

Halloween 2011

This is was our first holiday since moving to New Orleans.  I found myself missing my pumpkin patch and my neighborhood and my friends.  We found another pumpkin patch close to Gavin's school that wasn't as nice as St. James, but Gavin didn't notice any difference.  He had a blast!  He picked out his small pumpkin right away and had fun running around.

Halloween night, we walked down the street to our neighbors house for their annual Halloween party.  There was food and music and lots of other kids. GiGi, Uncle Danny, Josh, Aunt Michelle and Uncle Leonard were there to celebrate with us.When it got dark, we went trick or treating.  Gavin started to whine a little bit and said he didn't want to go trick or treating...he wanted to go home.  So, I made a deal with him....let's go to one house and if he didn't have fun, we'd go home.  I scooped him up and took his bag.  I walked up to the first door and yelled, "Trick or Treat!" The nice man gave me a generous handful of candy and that's all my little police officer needed to see!  He wriggled out of my arms, grabbed his bag, and took off running up the street!  Without hesitation, he walked up to the doors and yelled, "Trick or treat!!!!"  He couldn't get enough. He wanted to go house to house getting all the candy he could!  He had so much fun! Of course, he wanted to eat all of his candy in one night, so we had to temper ourselves.

We had a blast!  It really is nice to be surrounded by family! And Gavin is finally at the age that this stuff is so much fun for him.  I'm really excited about Christmas!

Starting over...sorta

Our house is officially sold.  We closed this morning and everything went off without a hitch from start to finish.  The movers came yesterday and all of our stuff is on the road to New Orleans. Since it's been a while since I've blogged...let's back track.

Gary and I decided about 4 months ago that it was time to move "home".  I was pregnant with our second child and feeling very isolated and alone in Dallas with no family around.  We have made close friends, but they were all busy with their lives.  Although we lost that baby it still felt right.  So, we put our house on the market and the rest is history. 

Our stuff was delivered in Gretna on Monday, October 3 and we've been trying to settle in ever since.  We're lucky to have a place to stay until we buy a place of our own.  My sister has a house that was vacant, so we're staying here.  We'll save money and really take our time looking for our dream house. It's challenging because we know we won't stay in this area, but we can possibly move across the river or across the lake.  We don't know where we'll live so it's hard to know where to set up our doctors, Gavin's school, etc.  For now, we have my doctor and Gavin's school set up across the river. 

It's been stressful with all the changes, but we're closer to family.  We've already had one family dinner over my house, and Gavin has enjoyed spending lots of time with his GiGi.  It's been really nice to have her come over and hang out with Gavin while we go to Target or a Doctors appointment, etc.  It's been nice to go over there, too, and ride four wheelers and hang out outside. 

Gavin is in a new school called the Little Red Schoolhouse of Metairie.  I really love it.  He has three different classrooms: one for story time, one for play time and one for fine motor skills and crafts at a table.  He also has a huge outdoor play area with lots of cars to ride.  I love that he's with kids his age, too.  He did so well on Tuesday until the very end of the day.  The car pool lane did him in! I got out of the car to get him, and he was red faced and starting to cry.  He told me he "waited and waited and waited" for me to come.  He waited 3 minutes.  After a few minutes he was fine and chatting.

We're all settling in and getting ready for our new life!

Chuck E. Cheese

Today we took Gavin to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time.  It's funny how different it was from when I remember it as a little girl.  I don't know if it's because it is different or just my grown up view point.  There was a small section that seemed to be for smaller kids filled with cars and trucks to ride.  Gavin was all about that!  The first thing he climbed into was this big "monster truck" with hydraulics.  He really liked that.  Then, we went on all the other cars...many times!

We finally pulled him away from all of the car rides to play a little ski ball.  I still love ski ball.  The one thing I loved as a kid was, you could crawl/walk right up to the board and throw your ball into the 5,000 or 10,000 point hole.  The plastic on this machine seemed so low that there was no cheating to be had. We played on these machines for a while and got a really pleasant surprise! Chuck E. Cheese himself came right up to Gavin for a hug!  I wasn't sure what Gavin's response would be, but he went right to him and gave him a great big hug.  He's gonna Looooooove Disney World!  The funny thing was, after Good ole Chuck left us, he walked past a couple of kids, approximately 8 and 10 years of age.  The 8 year old turned around, much to her horror, to see a giant mouse walk past her.  She took off running and screaming, and Chuck threw his hands up in the air and kept walking.  That, my friends, was funny!!

We put our tickets into the ticket counter (which I think Gavin enjoyed more that any game there) and redeemed our prizes!  Gavin got an orange lizard and some sweet hearts.  Not bad for his first time!

Visiting Aunt Beth

This past weekend I went to New Orleans to visit my best friend, Beth.  I was originally visiting to have a girl's weekend and to throw her a baby shower.  We didn't get to throw the baby shower because on August 1, 2011, she gave birth at 25 1/2 weeks to a 1 pound baby boy named Gabriel Joseph.  Beth felt the baby move less and less, so her doctor had her come in for monitoring.  What they found was not good.  The baby was very sick and needed to be delivered right away if he had any chance to survive.  The doctor said if she had waited another day, he would not have made it.  After tons of tests, the doctors finally figured out the cause.  Beth had contracted CMV(http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/overview.html) at about 20 weeks and her body started to fight off the virus, and the baby.

It's been almost a month now, and he's had his share of struggles, but continues to fight.  He is the smallest baby I have ever seen.  I was surprised every time I walked into his room to see him.  He's hooked up to tubes and IV's that help support all of his systems, but he is so cute.  He has blonde, fuzzy hair and eyebrows.  He has a perfect nose and big hands and feet.  He responds to his mom when she talks by opening his eyes and turning his head in her direction.  He moves his little arms and legs all around and protests being handled with the most demonstrative facial expressions (much like his dad).  He's perfect.  Except he's not supposed to be here.  He's supposed to be in his mom's belly growing.  Life is so unfair sometimes. I know that things happen for a reason, but why at the expense of a tiny baby and the mother that wanted him so badly.  Beth visits him every day, but she's getting tired.  The physical and emotional stress are getting to her.  I can't imagine what she must be going through.  I have a hard time dealing with Gavin being sick with a cold, so I know her heart is breaking for her little guy and everything he's going through.  The doctor's are doing everything they can for him, and I continue to hope for the best for my friend and her family. We've postponed the baby shower until further notice. I really hope I get to throw her that baby shower in a couple of months...

Vacation 2011

What a week.  The front end and back end were tough with all of the driving...12 + hours total from Dallas to Orange Beach, AL.  We stopped off in New Orleans on the way to the beach to spend a night with my sister.  We celebrated a belated birthday for me at my sisters house with a BBQ and doberge cake.  YUM!  My mom and Michelle and Leonard came over to my sister's house to celebrate with us.  It was a great time!  Although I was so tired of driving!  Literally!

But, we woke up the next morning and did it again.  We went to lunch with the family and then headed out to the beach.  Gavin was an angel during our driving.  He watched TV, slept and talked to us.  He took the drive better than I did.  The drive to the beach was great until we hit the exit to the beach....then there was traffic. And a lot of it!  It was hectic getting checked in and getting dinner.  Gavin finally started to get cranky.  We told him we were going to the beach, and he wanted a damn beach! We finally took him to the beach and he loved it.  The waves chased us for a little while and then we went up to our condo to settle in for the night.  

Every morning we woke up around the same time and did the same thing:  breakfast, beach, pool, lunch, nap, pool/beach, dinner, bath,  nite nite.  On Tuesday night, we actually bathed and went to a nice dinner.  All other days and nights we hung around and cooked and ate at the condo.  It was fantastic!  I loved not getting in the car for 5 days!

Gavin loved the ocean!  He didn't want to get out.  He also did not want to be put down.  He wanted someone to hold him the whole time.  He loved the waves and classified them as either "bumpy" waves and "splashy" waves.  The splashy waves were bad.  They got into his eyes and mouth, and he. did. not. like. it!  He did love the bumpy waves.  The last couple of days, he really enjoyed the sand and running on the beach.  He also learned to appreciate the "big boy" pool.  

We had a few visitors.  Nana and Paw Paw came up for a couple of days and so did GiGi, Josh and his friend Bryce.  Gavin was especially glad to see GiGi.  When she got there, no one else really mattered.  He wanted GiGi to bathe him, read him a book, tell him a story and put him to bed.  

It really was a great time had by all!  It was relaxing and fun, overall.  Can't wait to go again next year!! 

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our week...

Lost pictures...

Last week while on vacation, I came across some of these pictures from my "small" camera.  These pictures are from the Cotton Bowl where LSU played Texas A&M and the Boudin Ball 2011 with dad and Ellie.  Fun times :)